12 people in Chicago homeless shelter test positive for the coronavirus

Twelve people at a Chicago-funded shelter have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the city’s Department of Family and Support Services.

The cases are among staff and residents in a facility that provides medical care for people who are discharged from hospitals and have no homes. The shelter remains operational, and medical staff and epidemiologists from the city’s Department of Public Health are on-site to assist, city officials said.

Advertisement

In late March, the city identified only one positive case of the novel coronavirus in a staff member at the facility. The public health department did not believe the person had regular contact with residents and the facility remained open, officials said at the time.

It is not known if the 12 people who have tested positive contracted the virus before they entered the shelter.

“Stopping an outbreak of COVID-19 among Chicago’s homeless population has absolutely been one of the most challenging aspects of this response," she said. "We are not done. We have a lot of cases already and we are working very hard to limit the spread in all of the situations where we can.”

The isolation space is a collaboration between the city and A Safe Haven. While the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless said it had concerns about access to the space because of background checks for nonviolent offenses, a spokesperson for Family and Support Services said it was not aware of any background checks being conducted.

The department funds about 3,000 out of 4,000 homeless shelters in the city. In conjunction with the YMCA and the Salvation Army, the city has readied 699 beds to ease crowding in city-funded shelters and take in 311 referrals.